Drooping umpiring standards alarming: Taufel

ICC Umpire Performance and Training Manager Simon Taufel has said that the current structure of cricket's Panel of Elite Umpires is in need of urgent review after the fourth Ashes Test at Durham was also hit by controversy surrounding umpiring decisions.

According to Fox Sports, eight of the world's top 12 umpires currently come from either Australia or England, making them ineligible to officiate in any Ashes Test according to ICC rules. 

Taufel, who has never officiated in Test cricket's greatest battle during his 12-year umpiring career, expressed that all cricketing nations are obliged to produce elite umpires, the report said.

Pressure has mounted on all four umpires who have stood during the Ashes series, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus and Tony Hill, after a horror run of on and off-field decisions, the report added.

Most recently it has been Hill who has earned the ire of players, commentators and fans for his questionable calls in Durham, the report further said.

Taufel said that it was fair to say that Hill has had the lion's share of appeals in the fourth Ashes Test and a couple had not gone his way, adding that a lot of work and preparation goes into the performances of every umpire.